Ted Cruz suits up for battle in Sarah Palin interview; religious liberty is Job One

Not only did Sarah Palin interview Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Friday, she also spoke with fellow GOP contender Ted Cruz, and religious liberty was at the forefront of the discussion.

Cruz called in to her new show “On Point with Sarah Palin,” on the One America News network, and said if he is elected president, “the persecution of religious liberty ends that day.”

Palin and Cruz have a long-standing friendship that began when she endorsed his long shot campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2012, which Cruz brought up in Friday’s interview.

“I wouldn’t be in the U.S. Senate today, I wouldn’t be running for president, if it were not for you coming to Texas and supporting me,” he told Palin, saying he was grateful for her friendship and her “fearless stance.”

Cruz talked about a joint rally that he and Trump will be holding in Washington on Sept. 9 to oppose the nuclear deal with Iran, a deal Palin described as “asinine.”

“Every Democratic member of Congress faces a choice,” the Texas senator said. “Does he or she value the national security of this country, standing with our friends and ally, the nation of Israel, and the lives of millions of Americans more than they value partisan loyalty standing with the Obama White House.”

Defunding Planned Parenthood was also a topic of discussion, with Cruz drawing attention to an effort he took part in last week.

“I was proud to host a conference call where we invited over 100,000 pastors all across the country to come together and to speak out, and to pray for our nation, to preach from the pulpit, that we need to stand against this barbarism, this murder and commerce in the sale of human life,” Cruz said.

Another act Cruz said he’d take on his first day in office would be to direct the Justice Department to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood and “to prosecute any and all criminal violations.”

He predicted a battle in Congress this fall over the funding of the largest abortion provider in the U.S., and suggested the effort be tied to the budget process of funding the federal government — something Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has all but ruled out.